Félix Dolci

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Félix Dolci (/ˈdɔːlsi/ DOL-see) (born 5 May 2002) is a Canadian male artistic gymnast. He represented Canada at the 2024 Summer Olympics. He is the 2023 Pan American Games all-around and floor exercise champion and the 2019 Junior World Champion on rings. He has been a member of the Canadian national team since 2017.[2]

Félix Dolci
Personal information
Country represented Canada
Born (2002-05-05) 5 May 2002 (age 22)
Saint-Eustache, Quebec, Canada
Height166 cm (5 ft 5 in)[1]
Weight60 kg (132 lb)[1]
DisciplineMen's artistic gymnastics
Years on national team2017–present (CAN)
ClubLaval Excellence
Head coach(es)Adrian Balan
Medal record
Representing  Canada
Men's artistic gymnastics
Commonwealth Games
Silver medal – second place 2022 Birmingham Team
Silver medal – second place 2022 Birmingham Floor Exercise
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 2023 Santiago All-Around
Gold medal – first place 2023 Santiago Floor Exercise
Silver medal – second place 2023 Santiago Team
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Santiago Rings
Bronze medal – third place 2023 Santiago Vault
Pan American Championships
Silver medal – second place 2022 Rio de Janeiro Vault
Silver medal – second place 2023 Medellín Team
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Rio de Janeiro Team
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Rio de Janeiro All-Around
Bronze medal – third place 2022 Rio de Janeiro Floor Exercise
Pacific Rim Championships
Silver medal – second place 2024 Cali Team
Junior World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2019 Győr Rings
Silver medal – second place 2019 Győr Floor Exercise
Youth Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2018 Buenos Aires Rings
FIG World Cup
Event 1st 2nd 3rd
World Challenge Cup 1 1 2
Total 1 1 2

Early life

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Dolci was born in Saint-Eustache, Quebec in 2002.[3] He started gymnastics at the age of 6 at Laval Excellence, a gym in Laval, Quebec. His first competition was in 2009. So far he has won over 200 medals and awards, including sports merits and other honours.[2] His mother suggested he try gymnastics, mainly as a way to release his energy, as sports such as hockey and soccer failed to adequately do that. Dolci speaks both French and English and resides in Quebec.[4] Dolci is coached by Adrian Balan.[3][5]

Junior career

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2018

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Dolci suffered a shoulder injury at the start of 2018 which made it difficult to do horizontal bar, pommel horse, and parallel bars. Because of this, he was not able to compete his best at the Élite Canada competition in February and ended up in fourth place in the all-around.[6] Dolci recovered and in April he competed at the Pacific Rim Championships in Medellin, Colombia.[7] He helped Canada place second as a team and individually he placed second on rings, fourth on parallel bars, and eighth on horizontal bar.[2] He next competed at the Canadian Championships held in Waterloo, Ontario and placed first on all-around, floor, vault, and horizontal bar; second on rings; third on parallel bars; and fourth on pommel horse. Dolci's second international competition of the year came in June at the Junior Pan American Gymnastics Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina. While there he helped Canada win bronze as a team. Individually he won gold on rings and bronze in the all-around, on floor exercise, and on horizontal bar.[8]

In October Dolci was back in Buenos Aires for the Youth Olympic Games. He placed second on rings, sixth on floor exercise, seventh on vault, eighth on horizontal bar, and ninth in the all-around. His silver made him the first Canadian gymnast to win a medal at the Youth Olympics (alongside Emma Spence who won a bronze medal on vault).[3] He rounded out the year with the Austrian Future Cup in Linz, Austria in November.[9] He dominated the competition, placing first on every event (including team and all-around) minus the horizontal bar where he received the bronze medal.[2]

Rings
Parallel bars
Floor exercise
Vault
Félix Dolci at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games

2019

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Dolci started 2019 off in February with the Canada Games in Red Deer, Alberta. Competing in the junior competition, he won gold in all-around, high bar, vault, and floor; silver on rings and as part of the Québec team; and finished in 8th on pommel horse.[3] This achievement made him the most decorated athlete in the Canada winter games history for a single year.[10][3] Dolci then went to University of Calgary International Cup (UCIC) in Calgary, Alberta in March.[11] He placed 1st on pommel horse, rings, and parallel bars, and got 6th on high bar.[2] In May, he went to the Canadian Championships in Ottawa, Ontario. There he received the gold medal in all events excluding vault and pommel horse where he placed 2nd and 4th, respectively.[3]

At the end of June Dolci went to Győr, Hungary to compete at the inaugural Junior World Championships. Along with Ioannis Chronopoulos and Evgeny Siminiuc, Dolci helped Canada place fifth as a team with a combined total of 158.563. Additionally he placed fourth in the all-around behind Shinnosuke Oka, Ryosuke Doi, and Illia Kovtun. Dolci qualified for two event finals: floor exericse (in third) and rings (in second).[12] Dolci finished second in the floor exercise final with a 14.000, only 0.166 behind Ryu Sung-hyun of South Korea. Later that day he competed in the rings final and earned a 13.600, winning the event by 0.1 ahead of silver medalist Diogo Soares of Brazil. In both of the finals that Dolci was part of, he had the highest execution scores out of all of the 8 gymnasts part of the final.

Rings
Horizontal bar
Floor exercise
Pommel horse

Senior career

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2020–2021

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In 2020 Dolci was about to start his senior career. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, all gymnastics facilities where closed in Canada. As a result, he had to spend four months training at home. Due to strict travel restrictions, Dolci was not allowed to compete in any international competition until the 2021 FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup series. He competed at the World Cup in Koper, Slovenia, winning two bronze medals on vault and horizontal bar.[13] Just a few days later, Dolci would win gold on floor exercise and silver on horizontal bar at the World Cup in Mersin, Turkey.[14][15] In October he competed at the 2021 World Championships in Kitakyushu. He only competed on rings and horizontal bar; he did not qualify for any event finals.

2022

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Dolci competed at the DTB Pokal Team Challenge and Mixed Cup in Stuttgart. During the team challenge he helped Canada finish fifth as a team and individually he won gold on floor exercise, silver on horizontal bar behind Carlo Hörr, and bronze on rings and vault. In July he was selected to compete at both the Pan American Championships and the Commonwealth Games.[16] At the Pan American Championships Dolci finished third in the all-around behind Caio Souza and Yul Moldauer. Additionally he won silver on vault behind Souza and bronze on floor exercise behind Moldauer and Riley Loos. During the team final Dolci helped Canada finish third behind the US and Brazil.

At the Commonwealth Games Dolci helped Canada place second behind England. Individually he qualified to the all-around, floor exercise, rings, vault, and parallel bars finals. He won silver on floor exercise behind Jake Jarman of England and placed fourth in the all-around, on vault, and on parallel bars and placed fifth on rings.[17] At the 2022 World Championships Dolci placed 35th in the all-around during qualifications and helped the Canadian team finish tenth. He did not qualify for any individual finals.[18]

2023

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Dolci competed at the DTB Pokal Team Challenge where he helped Canada finish eighth. Additionally he won bronze on still rings and horizontal bar. At the Pan American Championships Dolci helped Canada finish second as a team behind the United States.

In October Dolci competed at the 2023 World Championships. During qualifications he helped Canada finish fourth, which qualified Canada a team berth to the 2024 Olympic Games, a feat last achieved by the Canadian men's gymnastics team in 2008.[19] Additionally he qualified to the floor exercise and horizontal bar event finals. During the team final Dolci contributed scores on all apparatuses except pommel horse towards Canada's seventh-place finish. During event finals he finished fifth on floor exercise and eighth on horizontal bar.

Dolci next competed at the Pan American Games. On the first day of competition he helped the Canadian team win the silver medal behind the United States.[20] Individually he qualified to the all-around, floor exercise, rings, and vault finals. During the all-around final Dolci scored 82.531 to win the gold medal despite falling during his horizontal bar routine. This was the first Pan American Games all-around gold medal won by a male Canadian gymnast since Wilhelm Weiler won it at the 1963 Pan American Games.[21][22] On the first day of event finals Dolci won gold on floor exercise and bronze on rings behind Donnell Whittenburg and Daniel Villafañe. On the final day of competition Dolci won bronze on vault, ending his competition with five medals and leaving as the most decorated gymnast.

2024

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Dolci began the year competing at Elite Canada where he placed first in the all-around. He next competed at the DTB Pokal Team Challenge in Stuttgart where he won bronze on rings and silver on parallel bars. In April Dolci competed at the Pacific Rim Championships in Cali where he helped Canada win silver as team behind the United States; he withdrew from the event finals to which he qualified.[23] In early June he competed at the Canadian Championships where he placed first ahead of René Cournoyer.[24] In late June Dolci was named to the team to represent Canada at the 2024 Summer Olympics alongside Zachary Clay, Cournoyer, William Émard, and Samuel Zakutney.[25]

At the 2024 Olympic Games Dolci helped Canada qualify to the team final and individually he qualified to the all-around final. During the team final Dolci contributed scores on all apparatuses except pommel horse towards Canada's eighth place finish.[26] During the all-around final, while competing on horizontal bar, his right handgrip snapped causing Dolci to take a hard fall off the apparatus. Since his routine was interrupted due to equipment malfunction, he was able to redo his routine. During his second attempt on the apparatus, he fell on one of his release moves.[27] Dolci performed cleanly on the other five apparatuses, ending the competition in twentieth place.[28]

Competitive history

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Dolci at the 2018 Youth Olympics
Year Event Team AA FX PH SR VT PB HB
Junior
2018 Pacific Rim Championships     4 8
Canadian Championships     4        
Pan American Championships          
Youth Summer Olympics 9 6   7 8
Austrian Future Cup                
2019 UCIC       6
Canadian Championships     4        
Junior World Championships 5 4    
Elite Canada            
Senior
2021 Mersin Challenge Cup   5 4  
Koper Challenge Cup    
World Championships 19 24
2022 DTB Pokal Team Challenge 5        
DTB Pokal Mixed Cup 4
Pan American Championships       7   4
Commonwealth Games   4   5 4 4
World Championships 10
2023 Elite Canada            
DTB Pokal Team Challenge 8    
Pan American Championships  
RomGym Trophy     4  
World Championships 7 5 8
Pan American Games          
Arthur Gander Memorial  
2024 Elite Canada     16 4 5    
DTB Pokal Team Challenge 11    
Pacific Rim Championships   WD WD
Canadian Championships     11 4    
RomGym Trophy          
Olympic Games 8 20
Arthur Gander Memorial  

References

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  1. ^ a b "CWG2022 Félix Dolci". Birmingham 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Félix Dolci | Gymnastics Canada". www.gymcan.org. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Félix Dolci, Canadian gymnast - Biblio RPL Ltée". www.bibliorpl.com. Archived from the original on October 13, 2023. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
  4. ^ "DOLCI Félix". www.gymnastics.sport. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
  5. ^ "Nos Entraineurs - Compétitif" [Our Coaches - Competitive] (in French). Laval Excellence. Archived from the original on January 18, 2024. Retrieved June 29, 2024.
  6. ^ Lamarre, Sylvain (February 15, 2018). "William Émard et Félix Dolci impressionnent à Élite Canada". Courrier Laval (in Canadian French). Retrieved June 30, 2019.
  7. ^ "U.S. men, Mikulak, Barnhill take gold at Pacific Rim Championships". USA Gymnastics. April 28, 2018.
  8. ^ "USA, Briones win gold at 2018 Junior Pan Am Championships". USA Gymnastics. June 14, 2018.
  9. ^ "Future-Cup". www.future-cup.at. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
  10. ^ "Quebec gymnast becomes most-decorated Canada Winter Games athlete". rdnewsnow.com. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
  11. ^ "News | Gymnastics Canada". www.gymcan.org. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
  12. ^ "USA finishes seventh in team final at 2019 Junior World Championships". USA Gymnastics. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
  13. ^ "Ten Different Countries Golden In Koper, Slovenia, The First International Competition Post Tokyo Olympics". International Gymnast Magazine Online. September 5, 2021. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
  14. ^ "Three golds for Hungary at final World Challenge Cup of the season". gymnastics.sport. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
  15. ^ "Canada's Felix Dolci: 'I know what I want and how to get there'". International Gymnast Magazine Online. October 3, 2021. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
  16. ^ "Canadian Artistic and Rhythmic Gymnastics Team Named for 2022 Commonwealth Games". GymCan. July 8, 2022. Archived from the original on July 10, 2022. Retrieved July 11, 2022.
  17. ^ "Canadian gymnast Dolci takes silver in men's floor event at Commonwealth Games". TSN. August 1, 2022.
  18. ^ "2022 World Championships Men's Results". The Gymternet. November 9, 2022.
  19. ^ "Canada sending men's gymnastics team to Olympics for 1st time since 2008". CBC News. October 1, 2023.
  20. ^ "Santiago 2023 - Team USA claims Pan Am Games men's artistic gymnastics team gold - results". International Olympic Committee. October 21, 2023.
  21. ^ "Santiago 2023 - Kayla DiCello, Felix Dolci win Pan American Games gymnastics all-around titles". International Olympic Committee. October 23, 2023.
  22. ^ "Félix Dolci 1st Canadian in 60 years to win men's all-around Pan Am gold in artistic gymnastics". CBC Television. October 23, 2023.
  23. ^ "2024 Pacific Rim Championships men's results". The Gymternet. April 29, 2024.
  24. ^ "2024 Canadian Championships men's results". The Gymternet. June 10, 2024.
  25. ^ "Team Canada gymnasts setting the bar high for Paris 2024". Canadian Olympic Committee. June 28, 2024.
  26. ^ "Dramatic finish sweeps Japanese men to Paris 2024 Olympic team title". International Gymnastics Federation. July 29, 2024.
  27. ^ "Olympics-Gymnastics-Canada's Dolci gets second chance on bar after equipment malfunction". Yahoo! Sports. July 31, 2024.
  28. ^ "Oka Shinnosuke extends Japan's reign of triumph in men's Olympic All-Around". International Gymnastics Federation. July 31, 2024.
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